School building and method of seating



Oct. 28. 1924- 1,512,975 Jsl. BRIGHT SCHOOL BUILDING AND METHOD OF SEATING Fi ied April 21, 1922 5 ets+Sheet 1 Q N N A TTOR EYS.

Oct. 28, 1924.

J. I. BRIGHT SCHOCL BUILDING AND METHOD OF SEATING Fi led April 21 1922 5 Sheets-sheaf 2 1 lrlllllllllflllI/lfI/d UEIEIEIEIEIEI EIEIEIEIEIEIU EIEIEIEHIJEIEI uuuuuuu IIIEIEIEIUEIEI v UUEIUUEIU I J INVENTOR Jami J. l. BRIGHT SCHOCL BUILDING AND METHOD OF SEATING @cfi. 28, I924. 1,512,975

Filed April 21, 9 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FZCi': H1

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J.|. BFHCSFFT SCHOCL BUILDING AND METHOD OF SEATING Filed April 21, 1922 ts-Shee r, 4

FIG: 1U.

INVENTOR:

Oct. 28, 1924. 1,512,975

J. 1. BRIGHT SCHOOL BUILDING AND METHOD OF SEATING Filed April 21, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheeti 21%465. 9W BY [9% Zia/J ATTORNEYS.

Patented Get. 28, 1924..

tenets JOHN nawriv BRIGHT, or VILLA NOVA, rnimsvnvenm.

SCHOOL BUILDING AND METHOD OF SEATING.

Application filed April 21, 1922. serial No. 555,831.

To all ii /1cm it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN IRWIN BRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Villa Nova, in the county of Delaware and 5 State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in School Buildings and Methods of Seating, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to building construction with particular reference to school buildings, and has for an object to provide a building of polygonal configuration and containing compartments or rooms intended for the accommodation of the pupils, and designed particularly to furnish natural lighting in such a manner as to avoid inducing eye strain upon the pupils when their attention is directed to the blackboard or other exhibit placed in the location designed for its reception.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of seating or arranging the seats and desks of an instruction room constructed in accordance with this invention, so as to place the greatest number of pupils in positions, wherein they face the blackboard or exhibiting surface directly or substantially at right angles to said surface, thereby avoiding wide angles of incidence and. reflection between the exhibiting surface, the source of light and the pupils, and thus preventing eye strain which isordinarily induced when an attempt is made to view an inscription upon some point of a plane surface wh ch happens to coincide with a reflected i" from a source of light.

Then 1 and other objects are accomplished buildingconstruction of polygonal confer; ma iou defined by two concentric walls to form an annular enclosure which is suitably divided. according to convenience, into compartments or rooms, each of which is defined primarili by virtue of the presentihven tiou. .WlilCl'l consists iii the provision of a I merely by arranging the partitions radially, intersecting the corners of the building. I

I" have illustrated in the accompanying preferred embodiment of my invention, from among other possibleforms and arrangemeiits,'witliin the scope of the appended claims, in which drawings: 7

Fig. I is a view in elevation of a building of polygonal form, constructed in accordance with my invention, the line of vision of the figure being directed at right angles to one ofthe side faces of the structure.

Fig. II is a view in horizontal section taken through the plane of the first or main floor. p

Fig. III is a horizontal section taken. through'the plane of the second floor.

F IV is a'view in transverse, vertical section taken, on the line IV.IV of Fig. III.

I FigQV is'a view in plan ofa room of rectangular form provided withthe usual seating arrangement, for the purpose of com- I parison.

Fig. V1 is a similar view of one room of the building shown in the preceding figure,-' illustrating my improved seating arrangement-,Iand I I Fig, VII is a diagrammatic view in plan of a slightly modified seating arrangement embodying my improvements.

With reference to the, drawings, lOand 11 indicate respectively the outer andinner relatively concentric walls of my improved building, forming an annular compartment 12 betweenthem, and a central compartment. 13 within the inner wall. These walls define a regular polygon, of any number of sides, but as shown in the drawings, preferably a heptagon or sevensided figure. livhen planning the main floor, a thirdlwall 14 may i be provided, enclosing the inner wall 11. in spaced relation thereto to form an annular corridor 15, suitably perforated toprovide pointsof ingress and egress, so as to avoid the necessity of entering the central compartment 13 when passing from one room to another, while the floor supports of the, remaining some are extended inwardly to form balconies or mezzanine floors 16 overhanging the main floor. Each floor drawings what I now believe to be the,

of the structure is divided into rooms by extending partitions radially across the a11- nular spaces 12. The division is efiected preferably by erecting pairs of spaced walls 1? which intersect the corners of the structure and which provide space thcrebetween for the stairways 18, affording paths of travel between the superposed planes.

Other pairs of spaced walls 19 are erected in I a similar manner formlng spaces 20 therebe-,

tween which may be utilized as offices or for other purposes. "The introduction of the pairs of partition walls 17 and 19 define rooms 21 therebetvveen, extending in endless, end to end formation around the an walls 17 or 19, constituting the front wall of the room. The roof of the central compartment 13 is preferably in the form of a dome'23, constructed of open frame work enclosing glass panels 2 1 to insure a maximum amount of light, although if desired the central compartment may be'left entirely uncovered. The central enclosure may be used for varied purposes, as, for instance, an auditorium, or a gymnasium. 'The door openings for providing admission to the building are located preferably at the corners between adjacent faces of the outer" wall'lO, as shown at 25, and hence the said corners are flattened, providing plane surfaces which may be perforated at upper levels to add window openings 26 to others indicated at 27, and placed in the side faces of the outer wall to afford ample light to the instruction rooms. The door openings may, however, be placed at any point on'the wall 10. If desired, to provide accon'nnodation for other purposes, certain of the in struction rooms may be subdivided by placing a partition 28 thereacross in a tangential di? tion to forina trapezoidal room 29 and room 30 having the form of a parallelogram, "Or the partition may be erectedin a radialdirection, as shown at 81, defining two trapezoidal rooms p ,By virtue of the above described construction, many attendantadvantages are derived.

F or instance, the use of corridors is obviated, as it permlts the occupants of any 11001 to pass to the outside of the building through the numerous stair halls without the necessity of passing through any other room. This is an advantage inan emergency v as the building can be quickly emptied.

The seating arrangement obviates glare in the eyes.

Every seat has approximately the same visual angle to the exhibition or front wall as has every other seat.

In a modified seating arrangement to be described the distance between a line drawn through'the front right hand corner of the desks in one file and a line drawn through the rear left hand corner of the desks in the adjacent file may be also twenty-four inches but the area of the aisle space is substantially greater. The outer wall of each room on the outside perimeter is longer than is the outer Wall of any rectangular room of equal area and depth; hence it affords more window space than does .the outer Wall-of any rectangular room of equal area and depth. The four enclosing walls of each instruction room and hall room or stair hall of necesslty bearing walls, and'hence each room is a fireproof cell, having direct access to a stairway. Tlns is an advantage that car-not be obtained in a bui din in i C l 1 i A. a which the rooms are rectangular, or placed in continuity or rectilinear relation, except by lncreaslng the area of the plan and therefore the cost of the building. Other advantages will be readily noted by those familiar with the design and construction of buildings. V

Not the least important among the many points ofmerit in the above described form of building construction is the manner in which the shape of the instruction room lends itself to a new and unique arrangement of desks and chairs, whereby the source of naturallight is placed insuch a manner as to illuminate, to best advantage, the black board, etc, without giving rise to annoying reflections or cross rays that would tend to obstruct a clear vision of the exhibits. For the sake of comparison, attention is'directed to Fig. V, wherein a conventional form of rectangular room and seating arrangement is shown, The windows 32, it will be seen, pass the light rays into the room in a direction. at right angles to the line of vision of the pupils whose gaze is directed toward the blM'kbOlFd 33. This arrangement permits part of the light rays to pass into the I of the students causing unclear vision. As much light enters from the front end of the window direct to the rear of the room as from the rear of the window directed to the front end of the room. Every light ray emanating from a point in a plane in front of a pupil shines to a greater or less degree in his eyes when the line of vision of the pupil, as is normally the case, is parallel to the light wall 10. This glare causes unclear vision anddamaging physiological and nervous reactions. .7

By reference to Fig VI, showing my improved se ti g arrangement, it will be seen that the end walls 17 and 19 are disposed at. less than a right angle. relative to the light.

wall 10 and the desks 34 are arranged in rows, which may be substantially parallel to the end wall 19, or the wall which carries the blackboard, etc. The side edges of thedesks, in each instance, are at right angles to the blackboard, thus causing the pupilswvhen seated behind the desks to partially turn their backs to the light wall 10, orwindows 27, from which the light is derived. The aisles, however, run preferably parallel to the light wall, so as to afford a direct passage therethrough from one end of the room to the other. The light rays thus enter the room over the left shoulders of thc pupils, and a much clearer vision ofthe blackboard is possible without attendant eye strain, inevitable in the usual seatiiigiarrangement. Also, the relative arrangement of the seats eliminates a file formation and hence the view of each pupil is not obstructed by the placing of one pupil directly in front of another. Attention is directed at this point to the fact that While the floor plan of the structure described in the first part of this specification should be po'lygonal the merit of the specific trapezoidal shape of the rooms contained therein will decrease as the number of sides of the poly gon are increased. This is due to the fact that the walls of the rooms will approach more of a rectangular relation as the number of rooms are increased due to multiply.-

ing the number of sides of the-polygon,

Hence, the preferred floor plan is a seven sided figure, although the numberof sides may be increased or decreased without sacriviicing the advantages described.

A slightly. different arrangement is shown in Fig. VII, wherein the angular relation of the desks to the light wall varies in proportion to their distance from the light wall. The theory of the arrangement can bestbe explained by referenc to the scheme used in phnin'ing or laying out a seating arrange ment for a specified amount or shapeof floor space. shown as trapezoidal with one wall19 con: stituting the front wall of, the room to which the attention of the pupils is directed.

A base line 35 .is drawn parallelto the short side wall 11., and an are 36 is drawn having its center 36 on and at one end of the base line. This are divided. into uniform increments, by din ion points 37,,correspond-. ing in number to the number of aislesdemll'tid. The distancebctween the sidewalls ill and 11 then divided into the number of i iies desired, and such points of division indicated by straight lines 38, 39, d0, ll and 42 drawn parallel to each other and parallel to the said walls 10 and 11. A series of straightlines 43 are. now drawn at right The outline of theroom is j angles to the baseline 35, butoriginating at the points 37 of the arc, and intersecting the lines 38, 39, etc, such points of intersection being designated respectively at 38, 39, 401,

41 and 42. Alternate points of intersection skipping two are now connected by lines to .determinethe angle which the front edge of the. respective desk makes with the said base line 35 .y Thus,"the points 38 and 41 are connected b'y a straight line, designated 45L, and it is, the angle of this line that controls natifng atthe point 41. The front edge of the first desk, designated 41 must coincide with said line 41%, and the adjacent side of said deskmnst coincide with a line 45 drawn at right angles to said line, 4%. The angle and 42 resulting in the assemblage shown;

in the figure. It will be seen that considering the angular placing of the lndivldual .desks,the transverse axis of each desk is retheplacingof the first desk in the file origispectively tangential relativ to an imaginaryindividual circle (not shown) having its center on the base line coinclding with the center 36, and that the diameters of such circles increase asthe desks are placed farther awayfrom said center and the base line. Also, that the points of contact of thetransverse axes, of the deskswith said imaginary circles aredisplaced ai'igularly on one circle relative toan adjoining circle. I This makes a convenient arrangement of desks, for the shape of room shown. in the figure, bringing V the first and'succeeding rows of deskssub stanti'ally but not exactly parallel to the m 1 blackboard, causing the desks nearest the windows to be located at a minimum angle thereto, and placing th desks farthest from the windows. at a maximum or right anonlar relation to the light wall.

noted that a line parallel to the outside wall and passingthrjough the center of gravity.

of the seating plan, which seating plan is symmetrically arranged in relation to the c r t Wlll be v outer and inside, wall, is substantially nearer i L the outer wall andlhe source oi light, their I in a rectangular roo-ni.

laying thus descr bed claim: 1

l. A, school building having a floor plan of polygonal outline Wlllll. a relatively small: number of sides defined by-abearing walhan inner wall in spaced relationtliereto and corresponding in outline, andradial dividing members connecting the corners of said walls .to form' trapezoidal, compartments between said members in which the outer wall sides.

and said members are disposed at. acute'angles, said dividing members comprising my invention, l; 1 20:

' spaced partition walls to define rectangular define class rooms of trapezoidal configurawall, a short wall parallel thereto, and ad- ;tion in which the outer wall and partition members are disposed at acute angles, the wall spaces of the outer wall between said partitions being perforated to provide window openings, exhibiting means located on one of the walls adjacent said perforated outer wall, and an arrangement of desks all of which are directed towards said exhibiting means. 7 g

8/ In a building structure, a room including a wall having light openings, a wall adj acent said first mentioned wall disposed at an acute angle thereto, and seats arranged to face said last mentioned wall so that the light entering said openings may. be directed against. the second metio-ned wall and originate at points to the rear of the seats to avoid entering the eyes of the occupants of said seats. 7

4. In a building structure, a room of substantially trapezoidal configuration with the non-parallel walls disposed at acute angles relative to the longest parallel wall, said longest parallel wall having light openings whereby exhibits placed upon an adjacent wall are readily viewedby observants placed directly in front thereof without cross rays of light originating from said window openings entering the eyes of said observants.

5; In a building structure designed for school purposes, a room comprising a long jacent walls in diverging relation disposed at acute angles relative to the longer wall, said long wall having Window openings whereby exhibits placed upon one of the diverging walls maybe viewed by observ antsplaced directly in front of said exhibits y whereby cross rays of light originating from the window openings are prevented from entering the eyes of the observants.

76.11 1 a building structure designed for school purposes, a room defined by an outer relatively long wall having window open ings, a relatively short inner wall parallel and'in spaced relation thereto, and diverging Walls connecting said outer and inner wall, disposed at an acuteangle relative to the outer wall, exhibit means placed on one i of the diverging walls, and a plurality of seats and desks arranged in said room so as to be directly opposite the exhibits.

-'7. In a building structure designed for school purposes, a room defined by an outer relatively long wall having window openings, a short Wall parallel and in spaced rebetween.

lation thereto, diverging walls connecting first mentioned walls, exhibiting means placed on one of said diverging walls and a plurality of desks arranged in said room in rows, each row being parallel to the exhibit bearing Walls, and said desks arranged in spaced relation to form aisles parallel to the light bearing wall.

8. A building having a floor plan of polygonal' outline defined by an outer bearing wall having flat sides, the corners of said -wall being flattened vand containing door and Window openings, an inner wall in spaced relation thereto of correspondingv outline, the faces of which are parallel to the faces of the outer wall, a plurality of radially extending means to define compartments, and connecting the corners of said walls, each means comprising a pair of spaced partitions defining rectangular com partments therebetween coinciding with the a plurality of seats arranged in said room,

all of which face the exhibit bearing wall, said seats adjacent the light bearing wall bearing an angular relation thereto lesser than those seats more remote from saidwall;

10. In a building structure for school pur- V poses, a room defined by an outer wall having window openings, an inner wall parallel thereto, and diverging walls connecting the first mentioned walls, and exhibiting means placed on one of said diverging walls and a plurality of desks and associated seats ar- 7 ranged in said room, the desks located adj acent the second mentioned wall being arranged in file substantially parallel thereto,

and the desks arranged near the first men tioned wall being arranged in file, each desk of said file being disposed at an'angular relation to said Wall of less than ninety degrees and the remaining desks between said files being arranged at angles varying there- 11. A building having a polygonal floor plan andpartition walls defining trapezoidal'configured rooms, one of said walls being adapted as a point of exhibition, a source of natural light remote therefrom, and seats arranged to face the point of exhibition,

said seats adjacent the source of light being arranged atan acute angle thereto, andthe angular disposition of the other seats increasing as their location recedes froin the source of light. 7

12. A building having a polygonal floor plan and partitions defining substantially iio trapezoidal configured rooms, one Wall in each room being adapted as a point of exhibition, a source of natural light in an adjoining Wall, and seats arranged to face the point of exhibition; said seats adjacent the source of light being arranged at an acute angle relative thereto, the seats remote therefrom at substantially right angles thereto, and the intervening seats at angles varying between the relative angles of the first men- 10 tioned tWo series of seats.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, PennsyL. Vania, this 18th day of April, 1922.

JOHN IRlVIN BRIGHT.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. BELL, E. L. FULLERTON. 

